Trout action on Tennessee’s Watauga River
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sponsored By
And
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On The Fly Freshwater
February 2026
Article and photos by Jimmy Jacobs
The outstanding trout fishing on the Volunteer State’s portion of the Watauga River is no secret. Float trips downstream of Wilber Dam features trophy-sized brown trout, as well as numbers of rainbows. Farther down, the wade fishing around the old Siam Bridge or in the city park at Elizabethton are also well known.
The upper end of Sycamore Shoals.
But the fly-casting options found on the river at the history laden stretch of water a Sycamore Shoals gets less attention. Like the rest of the river in Carter County, the Watauga at the shoals is loaded with trout.
This historic moniker for Sycamore Shoals was earned based on events dating back to the Revolutionary War and its connection to the “over the mountain men.” Those settlers from west of the Appalachian Mountains crossed that range in 1780, met at the shoals and then trekked to Kings Mountain, in present day South Carolina to administer a resounding defeat to a larger Tory militia led by British officers. The shoals where they waded the river are now in the Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park and provide a good wade-fishing area.
The park is just on the western fringe of Elizabethton on the north side of U.S. Highway 321. It also is near the site of Fort Watauga that dates from 1776 and defended the area from attack by Cherokee Indians during the Revolution. Today the park offers parking lots and a trail system that leads to the river shoals. Once the gravel trail from the parking area gets to the river, turn downstream and follow the path to the shoals.
There is a small island at the site that splits the river into two channels that hold the main shoal. Upstream the water is several hundred feet wide and contains a gravel-bottom flat, much of which is easily waded at lower water levels. In fact, other than the shoal itself, most of the Watauga through here has a minor gradient, but holds a lot shallower runs that are wadable.
The Watauga tailwaters that flow through the shoals are stocked with rainbow and brown trout, but the river also has some natural reproduction, particularly in the case of the browns. The average rainbow on this part of the river measures from 9 to 13 inches, while browns run slightly larger at 12- to 16-inches. Additionally, the constant water temperature leads to some fish carrying over from year to year. Thus, hooking into a 20-plus-inch trout of either species is possible. The stockings take place annually beginning in March and continuing through the month of July. The bulk of those trout will be rainbows.
An average stocker rainbow from the Watauga.
While fishing with nymphs and streamers can produce fish at Sycamore Shoals, as with the rest of this tailwater, the dry fly fishing is considered some of the best in the region. That topwater action runs from March when the stocking starts through early December most years. However, the spring and fall months are when it is at its peak.
The browns in the Watauga are more likely to spawn or carry over in the river.
The insect hatches that support the fishing are also considered first rate here. The most prominent hatches are composed of Sulfur mayflies and Pale Eastern Duns, both of which are so similar that most anglers just refer to them as Sulfurs. These insects come off from late spring all the way to early fall. In April you are likely to find some Cinnamon Cadddis or little Black Caddis also in the mix.
The downstream view of Sycamore Shoals.
Once the weather turns cooler in fall, the action changes over to tossing Blue-winged Olive patterns. That’s also a time when the nymphing and streamer fishing can produce some larger fish.
The bottom line is Sycamore Shoals offers some easy access with good prospects of putting some brown and rainbow trout on the end of your line.
